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AUSTIN, Texas — A state agency wants to know if it is allowed to increase training requirements for child care workers in Texas after a panel recommended such a change. The Austin American-Statesman reported Monday that the Department of Family and Protective Services has asked the state attorney general if it can increase the current requirements of eight hours of initial training and 15 more hours annually. A reply is expected by August.

NEW YORK — For young veterans returning from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, the process of re-entering society can be daunting, especially if they have been injured or have struggled with mental health problems. A new, free Web portal wants to help these warriors find the services they need in an environment they are comfortable in: the Internet.

Producers are not the only ones gearing up for the 2010 cotton crop; area ginners are getting their machines in order and contemplating a new Internet system that will organize their data.
Gin employees from the High Plains to the Rolling Plains met Tuesday morning in Lubbock to learn about Lubbock Electric Company’s announcement of its latest upgrade for the gin information-tracking system, EAGL.SYS (Electronic Accumulating Gin Ledger System).
“We think it’s a premier software of its type,” said Steve Moffett, LECO general manager.

100-ton contraption to be transported to rig site in bid to halt massive oil spill

PORT FOURCHON, La. - A 12-man crew was making final preparations Wednesday to take a 100-ton contraption 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in an unprecedented attempt to help funnel out oil spewing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
The giant-concrete-and-steel box is the best short-term solution to bottling up the disastrous oil spill that threatens sealife and livelihoods along the Gulf Coast.
BP PLC chief operating office Doug Suttles said it would take about two days to put it precisely on the seafloor.

NEW YORK — Consumers bought less clothing and footwear in April than they did in the same month last year but opened their wallets for electronics, major appliances and status goods, purchase data released Wednesday show.
The month's rainy weather contributed to mixed results, including a sharp increase in online sales, according to the latest numbers from MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse.
It was the ninth-straight month that online sales rose compared with a year earlier.

AUSTIN - Texans could see some icky tar balls roll up on their beaches in a few weeks as a result of the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but the state is in little danger of a larger threat, officials said Wednesday.
While the tar balls may be unsightly and unfortunate for beachgoers who may step in the goo, water currents in the Gulf would make it hard for a large oil slick from the 5,000 barrels-a-day oil spill to make its way to Texas beaches, said State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.